Tony Matelli

Palestinian fisherman finds a long-lost Greek statue of Apollo, Hamas police officials confiscate it once they notice it’s up for sale on eBay. [The Guardian]

Artist Chuck Close who suffers from face blindness (that is to say, prosopagnosia), was hired by Vanity Fair to take photos of celebs without makeup because, you know, he is the ultimate least judge-y person in the world and does not care that ScarJo has an oily face. We assume it’s up to Vanity Fair readers to decide who’s hot or not, without gobs of eyeliner. [Dlisted]

Artist Tony Matelli responds to criticism that his “Sleepwalker” sculpture should be removed from the Wellesley College campus. It sounds like he doesn’t care too much about the removal: “I don’t think they’ll make that decision, but if they make that decision, that’s fine with me.” [CBS News]

The opening of “Dumb Starbucks” is an art project. We’ll see how long fair-use law will let this parody business last—especially since they’re not even serving their own pastries. Ruh roh! [LAist]

“San Franciscans Wait Two Hours in the Rain for Day-Old New York Bagels.” [Uptown Almanac]

The theatrics that seem to accompany the release of a new Lars Von Trier film are in full swing: Shia LaBeouf wore a bag on his head and Von Trier was ostentatiously silent at the Nymphomaniac opening in Berlin. [The Guardian]

Good news: your Armory Bingo cards from last year are apparently still valid. Without changing a single square, we had Bingo within half an hour of walking in the door. The basic trend for Armory Show art—stuff cats like, like mirrors and motion and bright lights—is alive and well, and a few of last year’s micro-trends managed some unexpected longevity. We break down how well each trend square did this year, with pictures.

In an effort to cover more art before shows close, AFC decided to visit a handful of galleries and report what we saw. More than usual, I wanted to stay longer. Here are my notes from five shows at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, Mixed Greens, Paula Cooper, and Tanya Bonakdar.